Dual-Trailer Loads in Sweden

As anyone in the Detroit Metro knows, the conditions of most of the roads are such that cars under development don’t need to go to the various proving grounds in southeastern Michigan to run on the Belgian blocks.

One of the reasons for the poor conditions of the roads—yes, the weather extremes play no small role—are the trucks that haul everything from coils of steel for stamping to parts made from said coils.

So it came as something of a surprise to see that Scania, the Swedish truck producer, was proud to proclaim that rigs 31.5-meters long—which is a bit more than the length of a football field (34.45 yards, or 103.3 feet)—can now run on a route between Sōdertälje and Helsinborg, Sweden, because the Scania Transport Laboratory has determined that longer vehicles means a reduction of fuel consumption (by up to 30%), which means reduced CO2 emissions.

The OK for the route was granted by the Swedish Transport Agency.

“There are positive environmental effects of longer vehicle combinations but unfortunately it is difficult to find support for this issue in many European countries,” said Erik Ljungberg, senior vice president, Corporate Relations, Scania.

Just imagine the size of the potholes those dual-trailer loads could lead to. . . .